20 July 2010

The other day the Boyfriend was trying to bring to my attention that make up ruins skin and how so many women look terrible by the time they're in their 50's, due to so many cosmetics used during their lifetime. As you can guess, I brushed those remarks off as him being too worried, and continued carefully applying my blush and gloss.

Later, I couldn't help but wonder: was he right? Was I really preventing my skin from "breathing" by slopping on these chemicals?

I asked a few people about their experiences and opinions and even googled here and there. But at the end of the day, there's no predicting exactly how some one's skin will react after years of using beauty products.

Did you know that make up, fragrances and all cosmetics are not subject to any FDA approval in the US and no claims made by these companies are required to be true (as per laws and regulations)?
Did you know that over time you will ingest several ounces of lipsticks and glosses?

Some time back I began making a post about the topic, but never got around to finishing it. I was reminded about it when I found an interesting video about the topic on Youtube from SPNation where he talks about a few precautions you could take when using make up and skin care products (mineral make up, powders, glosses, fragrances, etc.) and some precautions to take - gathered from Dr. Oz's show.

My recommendations and precautions:

Make sure to properly remove ALL your make up:

If you DO use make-up, your cleansing method is crucial. I used to use Olive oil as a make up remover, along with a gentle face wash. But if you're like me and use even a bit of foundation on a regular basis, you may not be aware that not all make up removers nor olive oil get your skin deep clean. I used Revlon Colorstay foundation which gives heavy coverage. So here's my make up removal routine:

Olive oil: natural and great for removing powder products and most eye make up. Plus it adds moisture to your skin. But it's NOT enough to remove foundation and dirt.

Pond's Cold Cream: If I could I'd shout it from the mountain tops: "this is my favorite, Holy Grail product for make up removal and I can't live without it!!" It's so gentle and moisturizing, yet it astounds me how deep clean it gets my skin. (P.s. if you have dry skin it can even double as a moisturizer).

A gentle facial cleaner: I can't wait to get the Philosophy facial cleanser, but in the meantime I'm using an extra gentle cleanser from Noxema, so as not to strip my skin of too much moisture, even though I have oily, acne prone skin.

Toner(optional)

Use less make up, fragrances and skin products (duh!):

This goes without saying but you need to use this stuff less. Have make-up free days whenever possible and take it off as soon as you can. And whenever possible switch up your lipstick and gloss for a less chemical beeswax lip balm.

Be careful when using Talc and other powder products:

You don't want to be inhaling the dust particles (which you may not even be able to see!) while applying your translucent powder, blush, shadows or mineral make up.

Wanna check to see if your make-up is "safe"? Check out cosmeticsdatabase.com to see if it ranks as a "High", "Moderate" or "Low Hazard". I love this site and the only thing I didn't like was the fact that most of my products ranked as a "health hazard". Pretty scary facts.

What do YOU think about the subject: does make-up damage skin or is that just a myth? Have you seen cases where this has happened? If you're taking precautions, feel free to share them.

2 comments:

very interesting article darling.... I was gonna suggest to check out cosmeticsdatabase.com but I see you already know about it....its a really great site to show you all the ingredients in products and what they do to the skin and body.Maricelavividfusion.blogspot.com

Very good post. I think it's important for people to be aware of how long they've had a product. Often times with certain things like blushes and powders we use them so often and buy so many that we forget which came first. Also taking care of your skin is at the top of the list. Nothing can replace clean healthy skin.